Maison Martin Margiela

THE beauty about being a label with a progressive approach to fashion is that you can reinvent it each season. Which is what <a href="http://www.vogue.co.uk/brand/maison-martin-margiela" target=""_blank"">Maison Martin Margiela did today - though of course those stylistic quirks will always remain in tact and at the core of this egalitarian label (in that it's a design team), is that nothing is quite as it seems and if it is then you need to look a little bit harder.

Today it was about a fluidity - for sleeves that spilt over hands on pin-striped suiting that came with a lick of paint in magenta or yellow down the side. There was a remarkable sense of freedom in the designs in that they were more obviously wearable than they have been in the past yet came with in-built restraint - straps at the backs of all jackets, tunics, gowns and coats to tuck and fasten the hair into.

Colours were a great mismatch of magenta and mustard and mint and incarnated cropped bomber-blazer hybrids - again with huge cuffs - fur coats and long evening gowns that had seemingly been constructed from slogan-ed flags.

Bows morphed into blazers for emphasis on the bust and yarn wove its way through tulle vests for innovative and oddly pretty effect.

Streamlined in silhouette, colour and proportion, it was a cohesive collection with plenty of details to keep it interesting - most notably that back detail.